


overture

by Tazmaster



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Character Study, Happy Ending, Other, Peter POV, Post-What Lies Beyond, in which peter does not compartmentalize for once, self reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29214291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tazmaster/pseuds/Tazmaster
Summary: There are a lot of words Peter could say about Juno Steel, but finding the right arrangement is another challenge entirely. He was... predictably unpredictable. The sort of lady who kept Peter on his toes. One day, Juno would kiss him ever so gently, with a softness so sweet it would make him sick, and the next, he'd kiss him with such fire behind his lips that Peter was afraid it would burn him alive.---Peter musters up the courage to ask an important question.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 26
Kudos: 92





	overture

**Author's Note:**

> this fic took every ounce of my braincell, but i hope you guys enjoy it, i love these two a whole bunch, so i'm very happy to have written a full piece for them :)

**OVERTURE**

_ “a formal or informal proposal or offer” _

Peter can count the number of times someone has left him on three fingers. The first: a question, the second: a decision and the third: an oversight. 

To this day, Peter does not know where his parents are. He does not know he comes from. Brahma might have been the only place he could have called home, but even then he could never know for sure. And so the question is: Was it a cruel twist of fate that stripped him from his parents? Or was it deliberate? The thought of his parents abandoning him, orphaned and left for the wolves at such a young age. The idea cuts through him like a sharpened blade, and so he files it away to think about later.

The second was… complicated. Mag’s essence still hangs over Peter like a cloud, and if he reflected long enough, he may even let himself get mad about it. It was impossible for him to deny Mag’s influence, even decades later. He’s spent years trying to iron out that influence. The old habits that move his muscles and the words that echo in his mind. Even now, he couldn’t get every wrinkle out. 

But what happened with Mag was a decision, first and foremost. A decision that Peter made, and one he would have to live with for the rest of his life.

And now for the third: Juno.

There are a lot of words Peter could say about Juno Steel, but finding the right arrangement is another challenge entirely. He was... predictably unpredictable. The sort of lady who kept Peter on his toes. One day, Juno would kiss him ever so gently, with a softness so sweet it would make him sick, and the next, he'd kiss him with such fire behind his lips that Peter was afraid it would burn him alive.

He wishes more than anything that Juno took that feeling with him. The night Juno left... Now that was the oversight. 

Peter taps his nails on the kitchen table. His other hand is holding a strong cup of coffee, which he’s been staring at oh so lovingly. It was imported from Brahma. A gift from Juno. 

He doesn’t know how long he’s been there until he looks up from his coffee and meets Juno’s eye.

“Hey Ransom,” Juno starts awkwardly, “Thought I’d find you here.” 

Peter nods at him. “Well here I am, dear. Something on your mind?”

He watches Juno fumble with his pockets.“I know maybe now isn’t really the best time, but I just thought maybe this might take the edge off of things.” He gives a small smile and sets the journal on the table. “I don’t know if going on a honeymoon with the Ruby 7 was your idea of a gift, but…”

Peter laughs. “Of course it wasn’t, dear.” He says, casting a smile Juno’s way. “What was the question again?”

Juno scoffs and takes a seat next to him. “I know you didn’t forget, Ransom.”

“Humor me a moment, will you?”

“Fine.” Juno opens the journal, flipping to the end and reads: “Who was my first love?”

It was a difficult subject. Peter had spent days, maybe months even, preparing for this moment. The moment where he would talk about something he hated so dreadfully that he almost hid it from Juno entirely. But… love cannot be built on secrets. If Peter was going to prove to Juno that he was worthy of his love, then this talk must be had. 

Juno makes everything easier. He makes the vulnerability worth it.

And so Peter begins. 

Peter had broken many hearts before, dozens of times, but it had felt different somehow. The idea of someone laying their heart bare for him, throbbing and exposed, and trusting him to take it. It terrified him so much that he could not bring himself to.

So when the question was posed, he felt that feeling inside of him climb up his throat and say the words, “I’m sorry.”

He took no pride in it. Love was meant to be cherished and celebrated, and Peter was to be neither. He was a ghost story, if anything. A man who was no longer a man, but a tale. A story of a young wide-eyed boy that would soon fade into obscurity. He was not meant to love, to want, or to stay. That was for the living, and Peter Nureyev was very much dead. 

But when he looks at Juno, his heart beats against his ribcage and strains to remind him that he is alive.

Wanting is a dangerous thing for a thief. It clouds your judgement quickly. So as a thief, you should truly only focus on what you  _ need _ . Peter tried hard to lean into that fact, but as time passed, he quickly realized that Juno Steel was more than a want. He was a need. And needing someone and not  _ something, _ was the scariest feeling of them all.

Maybe it makes him foolish to have trusted Juno so quickly. To this day, Peter could not answer the question as to why he did. The fact of the matter is that Peter fell for him immediately, fast enough to let Juno pull the rug out from under him and leave him exposed in that hotel room like an open wound. A wound that has not yet healed, but for each time they come together, hurts a little less. 

“He proposed to you.” Juno says finally. “And you--”

“Rejected him, yes.” 

“...but you loved him.”

“I did.” Peter’s bones feel stiff, like he’s been cast in a mold and slowly hardening. He folds his hands in his lap. “And even now, it’s difficult to say.”

Juno is thinking, in the endearing way he does. When his eyebrows furrow slightly and a small frown sits on his lips. It would be comforting if it didn’t make Peter’s heart feel like it was about to stop at any second. If Peter knew that Juno could be thinking about anything but him at this very moment. 

“The words ‘I do’ carry a lot of weight, for the both of us.” Peter starts. “And you may not be my first love, Juno, but I can assure you, you will be my last.”

Juno laughs lightly, but there’s no real humor behind it. Just nerves. “Nureyev, you can’t just--”

“I would like to marry you, Juno. If you would have me.” It comes out of Peter’s mouth urgently, as if he doesn’t say this right here and now, Juno may never hear these words again. The journal between them begins to write itself, but Juno doesn’t pay it any mind. 

“You...” Juno finally says, his eyes wide with… surprise? Fear? “Want to marry me.”

And so comes the wave of embarrassment that Peter dreads. When he makes a mistake, when he forgets to keep the gate closed and instead, lets his emotions run free. 

“It would be my pleasure,” Peter reaches out to hold Juno’s hands. They are calloused from years of firing blasters, but fit perfectly in his own. He presses his lips to one of his hands. “As well as my privilege, Juno.” 

Juno pulls his hands away from him quickly. “You can’t be serious.” He says, but the tone is almost unreadable. It wouldn’t matter either way, because Peter’s heart is beating so loudly it’s about to blow out his own ears.

Peter watches him get up from his seat. “Juno?”

“A privilege to marry me.” Juno mumbles to himself. “Why would you say that?”

“Well, someone has to.” Peter quips. He expects a quick retort, one of the many things he loves about Juno, but it never comes. Instead, he gets sobs.

He debated hard with himself on whether or not to pop the question. Filtered through thousands of different scenarios, many in which Juno walked right out of his life like he did two years ago. 

But Juno Steel was not the same as he once was, and so against every nerve telling Peter to run, he rises only to hold Juno in his arms. “Love, are you alright?” He asks softly.

Juno lets out a choked laugh. “You just asked me to marry you, Nureyev. I think this is the worst day of my life.”

“And why is that?”

“Because!” He exclaims into his chest. “Because the last person who thought that they wanted to marry me didn’t, okay?” 

Peter hums in response and rests his chin on Juno’s head. 

“I spent a lot of time trying to make it work and it just  _ didn’t _ . She never showed up and sometimes I feel like I’m still standing at that altar just  _ waiting _ for something to happen.” Juno continues, sniffling. “And, and maybe, this is it. Like I don’t know, maybe this is what I’ve been waiting for.”

“I think,” Peter says, pulling away. He cups Juno’s cheek and wipes a tear away with his thumb. “This is what I’ve been waiting for too.” He places a firm kiss on Juno’s forehead, earning another laugh from the lady.

“You know… Rita’s gonna be happy about this.”

Peter hums again. “She knows.”

“She what?”

Peter ignores the question. “You haven’t even said yes, dear.”

“I--” Juno pauses, not out of hesitation, but pure determination. “Yes, of course I want to marry you.”

After the words leave his mouth, the journal begins to scroll it’s bits of text again. None of that text matters to Peter much anymore, just who stands in front of him now. Someone brave and beautiful, with the sharpest eye and mind in the galaxy. 

Juno turns to look at the journal, watching the last words fill themselves in. “So…” 

Peter laughs lightly. “I haven’t stolen it yet.”

“Nureyev.” Juno rolls his eye, tugging on his collar. 

Peter leans down. “Yes, Juno?”

“I think I may have fallen in love with you.”

“Then that makes two of us.”

Peter leans in to close the gap between them, wanting nothing more than to feel Juno’s lips on his until--

“Uh, Mistah Steel, y’know how much I love you and Mistah Ransom, I really do, but a gal’s gotta get her coffee in the mornin’.” Rita chimes in, cutting into his thoughts. She walks past the table, glancing at the journal and then stops. “Wait a second…”

Peter waits.

“Mistah Ransom, you didn’t!”

Peter smiles, teeth and all. “I did.”

“And you didn’t think to tell  _ me _ ?” Rita exclaims, putting her hands on her hips. “Well, sheesh. You give a guy the uncrackable code you’ve had since you were a little Rita and he doesn’t even tell ya when he pops the question to your bestest friend! The nerve of some people!”

Juno laughs. “But Rita, Ransom says you already knew.” 

“Well yeah duh! I know everything, Boss. I’m just saying a little heads up woulda been nice is all! I could’ve gotten confetti or something or-- OH! What are you gonna wear, Mistah Steel?” Rita bubbles up with giggles. “You know, I saved that dress you never talked about just in case, because you looked so  _ pretty _ in it and I woulda hated to see it get thrown away and--”

“One thing at a time please?”   


“You got it, boss!” Rita winks and says, “Oh, I’m so happy for you both!” She rushes over and hugs their legs so tight Peter feels his bones might break. “Can I be the flower girl? Or-- no wait, the ring bearer. Or no even better, the  _ officiator _ !” 

Peter resists the urge to wince. The thought of Rita handling their vows was a little short of terrifying. “Well, I--”

“Of course you can, Rita.” Juno interrupts, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You can be anything you want.”

“Oh yay!” She squeals. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking…”

She goes on for a while, so enthusiastic to share what colors or what flowers they would use. With every suggestion, Juno just nods with a soft smile and lets her continue on. 

Peter could never entertain the idea of marriage because it was inexplicably tied to the future. It was tied to a person too, a person that Peter spent most of his life believing didn’t exist. Someone to love and care for, who would love and care for him. Until he met Juno… and he undoubtedly served as a reminder of that existence. 

Peter Nureyev was alive. He could love, he could want, and he could stay. 

**Author's Note:**

> tysm for reading, comments and stuff are appreciated <3
> 
> check out my [twitter](https://twitter.com/tazatouilles) and [art tumblr](http://tazatouille.tumblr.com)
> 
> note: i wanted to apologize formally for tagging the fic as m/m, it has appropriately been tagged as other!


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